Schwarzenegger’s sorry swan song

Since it involved the barbarous slaying of a Mesa College student, most local attention to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s shabby final days in office has focused on his commuting the manslaughter sentence of Esteban Núñez from 16 to seven years. But while not as outrageous as this favor for the son of former political ally Fabian Núñez, Schwarzenegger disgraced himself in other ways as well on his way out the door.

This was a politician who rose to power crusading against Sacramento’s insider culture. But in Schwarzenegger’s final days, he became the epitome of what he liked to trash. The spouse of chief of staff Susan Kennedy was given two part-time state jobs with a total annual pay of nearly $168,000. An interior decorator married to Schwarzenegger aide Paul Miner secured a $128,000-a-year part-time post. Former Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, a Murrieta Republican who represented much of northeast San Diego County, also got a $128,000 part-time state job.

Hollingsworth, like Schwarzenegger, held himself up as a tight-fisted fiscal conservative. That’s not the final impression either left behind.